Monday, June 22, 2009

Lightning Safety

This short and sweet sluggish Monday post is a stormy one. Lightning is an awe-inspiring force of nature. We saw some beautiful, amazing lightning on our way home from dinner over the weekend. But lightning can also be deadly. So far, this year 15 people have been killed by lightning. At least one of those was a little boy here in Indiana. This is National Lightning Safety week. Do you know enough about lightning to protect yourself and the ones you love? So, lightning never strikes the same place twice? It's a myth. Rubber tires on your car protect you from lightning? That is also a myth. Look here for more lightning myths. It pays to know some lightning facts and safety precautions. People who are struck by lightning and live often suffer a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms. Here are some of those survivor stories. http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/survivors.htm
Teach your kids lightning safety too. Here is a page for kids. Since it is summer and we know that means storms that include lightning, it would be smart to learn how to stay safe and keep our families safe. So use this week to get educated about lightning.

Photo credit
Photographer: C. Clark
Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

3 comments:

  1. What an interesting post. I used to a have a teacher who had been struck by lightning twice, I'm pretty sure she was holding an umbrella both times.

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  2. wow.. that's a great photo. the scariest lightning i saw was during a tropical storm in cuba... lots of lightning hitting the ground in the distance.. it was very scary!

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  3. I know, lightning is so cool to see but man is it dangrous.

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